THE TOFU HUT

Tuesday, March 16, 2004

glisten globally: week oneI'm still smarting over the lack of unearthable info on Nakano, but here's WAY more linkage and info than you ever needed about one of my alltimefavorite artists, "The West African Nightengale," Baaba Maal.

Baaba is a rarity in that he has chosen not to conform to his birthland's caste divisions. Traditionally, only those born into the "griot" caste become musicians; Baaba was destined for a life of fishing but his tremendous success has brought with it acceptance and respect from his native Senegalese people.

Maal is making genuine world music here; his influences are varied: American soul, Cuban percussion and rhythm, Jamaican ska, Senegal traditional. The result is something new that sounds very old and very right. While he continues to diversify (some would argue "water down") his sound to appeal to an evergrowing international audience, he never loses track of his roots; Baaba has been extremely outspoken about AIDS awareness and the necessity of global acknowledgement of both the culture and hardships of West Africa.

With the highest possible recommendation: Baaba Maal.

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Baaba Maal - "Lam Tooro"

My favorite track from one of my favorite albums by one of my favorite artists. SQUEEEEEEE!

No, seriously; this is fucking amazing: otherworldly and insistent strings and Baaba's beautiful voice floating atop each plucked note. Sounds like a long mountain journey.

This whole album is a joy; entirely acoustic and free of the aforementioned "watering down", this is the least complicated and most beautiful of Baaba's mainstream releases.

I know what he's getting at, but still. Aw, heck; who'm I kiddin'? I've probably written dumber stuff on this blog. This week.
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An interesting site about Senegal and the Gambia, featuring a selection of songs by a considerable array of Senegalese artists. I suppose I am now obliged to go find a realplayer knockoff. PENNYARCADE has recommended this (scroll down to "realalternative").
I'll test drive the next time I'm feelin' especially frisky and report back.

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Baaba Maal - "Gidelam"

Geeknote: the opening here puts me in mind of a Monkey Island game, but once it gets goin', "Gidelam" proves itself pretty funky.

This flirts with Paul Simon/David Byrne style production but manages to hold its own.

Baaba's most recent album, "Missing You", finds him working with mainstream producer John Leckie (prior of Radiohead's "The Bends") and settling into a style more akin to "Djam Leelii" than "Nomad Soul". "Missing You" was recorded in the Senegal village of Nbunk and there's a lot of site specific noise that creeps into the tracks; in this case, you can hear children playing and a rooster crowing in the background. There's a patina of what's obviously intended as "authenticity" on the album, but it's not overstated enough to be annoying.

Incidentally, Amazon also offers this import-only limited edition version of "Missing You" packed with a three track EP of dance remixes. The market savvy Baaba allows a great deal of his work to be remade a'la club, but the results are mixed; I thought the Thievery Corporation remixes were great, the Karsh Kale jungl-ishous somewhat less so (Baaba seemed more of an afterthought than a centerpiece).

I haven't heard these versions; you pays your money, you takes your chances.
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Vitamin C is hosting over an albums worth of Maal BUT in realmedia format, AGAIN. Ick.
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A brief overview of the musical traditions of Senegal, Baaba Maal included.

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One Last Thing

Although every effort has been made to verify the authenticity of the information contained in this blog, google journalism has its limits. As such, it is completely possible that you may find errors, statistical slips or outright garbage lies mixed in a few of these articles.
The author shouts mea culpa but implores you to contact him if you discover a mistake so that he can rectify the situation.
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